HUDSONVILLE – Despite dropping behind 10-0 in Wednesday night’s opening Baker games, the Wayland boys bowling team battled back to a 17-13 win over Unity Christian on the road. On the girls’ side of the lanes, Unity Christian came up four pins shy (261-257) in the Bakers, but when on to roll away with a 19-11 win.

“We were down 10 to 0 after loosing both Baker games,” said Wayland boys coach Rick Konecny. “We have been in this spot before. I know that we have the capability to come back from a score like this. We have done it before this year. We were away at Unity's home lanes so I knew it wasn't going to be easy.”

The Unity boys took the Bakers 444-342, before individual games earned the Wildcats the victory. Wayland knocked over 962-859 in the first match-up with a top team score from Ryan Collins at 208. Austen Beggs shot 198 and Gerrit Gehrke 196.

“The Wayland boys came back and took all but one individual point in the first regular game,” said Coach Konecny. “First-year bowler Ryan Collins led the first game with a 208 game. The score was eight to 11. We still had a chance. The second and final regular game the boys kept strong by rolling a 1081 series versus a 1005 from Unity. This was a very good competitive game to watch. It could have gone either way for the whole game.”

Senior Dakota Wraight bowled a 280 game which was the highest in the conference this year. Gehrke had a 245 game, and senior Tucker Konecny a 217. Beggs, a freshman, added a 193 to the score. Unity Christian was paced by Nick Woldyk’s 226 and 203. Troy Potgeter managed a 244 in the second game to lead all bowlers in the match.

For the girls’ competition, the Crusaders got the high Baker game with a 135 before moving on to take the individual games 681-669 and 689-596. Carly Montsma rolled a 171 and Kendra Dykstra a 163 in the first game. In the second Dykstra’s 153 along with Kourtney Rigterink’s 146 and Ashley Rozema’s 144 sealed the win.

Wayland got the high series of the night with Morgan Konecny who knocked down 176 in game one and 155 in game two. Olivia Heuschele put down a 149 and Emily Fifelski 144 in her first game.